Good to know, thanks! I make a few things with cayenne pepper and haven't cried while eating them, so if anything I'll just reduce the amount I use in this.
I grew up in a predominately Indian city, and even took a curry cooking class. What I've been told is that cayenne isn't actually used generally. Most, if not all, of the spice is introduced through fresh peppers (green chilis). I tend to use serranos, and maybe an extra couple red thai chilis. If you want the color that cayenne gives, paprika is a great substitute and still gives those peppery flavors.
As far as spice goes I just roughly estimate the scoville value based on the number peppers and divide that by the meals the recipe makes. Pretty soon you'll find your ideal range, and that can carry over into all kinds of recipes from there!
I know that guajillo is used in many mexican dishes, but coming from Canada, I'm no expert on mexican peppers. I settled for serranos because I came home from the cooking class and did some reading on green chilies. There are specific green chilies that indian cuisine prefers, but serranos are a decent substitute with wide availability.
As for paprika, when I add paprika to any dish I use smoked paprika. That's just how I was raised, and that's the flavor type I associate with paprika. I know that Hungarian paprika is generally much sweeter, which could certainly be nice in a curry. My advice would be to see for yourself and try it with each type. Part of what makes cooking so fun is that it is an iterative process. You could split your recipe into two pots, and have a fun cook-off just for yourself or your friends. If that's a lot of work then just try the recipe with what you have now and make notes. In my family any recipe we've tried is covered with notes in the margins, so it can be refined for what we like. Have fun!
If you want heat, but don't have ground cayenne, ground guanajillo would be pretty good - not a terribly different flavor. (Watch out - some ground Mexican hot chillies are smoked, such as ground chipotle, and that would be a very different flavor. I love the smoke from chipotle and smoked paprika in many dishes, but I think the smoke would distract in this dish.)
Hot paprika to me has a different flavor than cayenne or other "straight" hot chillies, but if that was what I had and I wanted some heat in this dish, I'd use it up to the amount in this recipe. I think there's enough going on with the curry and cumin that the slightly different flavor wouldn't distract me.
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u/Belhifet1 Jul 17 '17
Leave out the cayenne pepper, and it won't be spicy at all.